“We’re glad to be home; it’s beautiful.” Deborah Gibson and Herman Travis have been residents for 13 years at Holly Courts, the first public housing project built in San Francisco. Their unit was one of 118 that went through a Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) conversion that allowed the housing authority to invest in everything from new floors and kitchen appliances to increased lighting that transformed the units into light and airy spaces. Click here to see their newly renovated home and to hear more of their story.

]]>https://blog.hud.gov/index.php/2018/01/18/rental-assistance-demonstration-in-san-francisco-holly-courts/feed/0Puerto Rico’s Public Housing Director on Surviving the Storm and Planning for the Next Onehttps://blog.hud.gov/index.php/2017/12/20/puerto-ricos-public-housing-director-on-surviving-the-storm-and-planning-for-the-next-one/
https://blog.hud.gov/index.php/2017/12/20/puerto-ricos-public-housing-director-on-surviving-the-storm-and-planning-for-the-next-one/#respondWed, 20 Dec 2017 21:16:20 +0000http://blog.hud.gov/?p=9157

On his birthday, Sept 5, Antonio Córdova says the devastation that was coming to Puerto Rico started rolling in. That is the day Hurricane Irma touched the U.S. Virgin Islands first, then landed in Puerto Rico the next day. It was the beginning of the worst hurricane season in modern history to hit the Caribbean. Then, on September 20, Hurricane Maria hit the island of Puerto Rico.

“We got hit by two category 5 hurricanes in the span of two weeks,” Cordova said. “What we saw with Irma and Maria, I’ve never seen before. It was a total collapse of infrastructure.”

Córdova is HUD’s public housing director, based in San Juan, Puerto Rico. His office is responsible for overseeing public housing and Housing Choice Vouchers for 90,000 households, or about 200,000 individuals.

Córdova lives in San Juan, near the water, so he evacuated to stay at a family’s home farther inland. With his wife and their two dogs, they took with them provisions for a few days, like most families.

Also like most families, their evacuation home and the home they evacuated weathered the storm with some damage but not complete collapse. Many homes on the island are cinder block or concrete. As a direct result of the storm most families, including his own, experienced heavy flooding, wind damage to roofs, deforestation, and some serious damage to buildings not built to code.

After the storm passed, however, the bigger problems came. That was when the collapse of utilities services came, he said. Families quickly ran out of provisions and had to go in search for any open store, restaurant or community place for food and water. It was not easy.

“There was no power, no telecommunications, no water. One hundred percent of the island was not able to communicate. Not having power and water are bad. But the uncertainty, the anxiety of not knowing what is going on because you can’t communicate for weeks, the unknown about family, friends and the people that we serve, that was the worst.”

Córdova’s brother in Florida was the one who confirmed to him after a week that his mother in a different part of Puerto Rico was ok. It took him about two days to reach the HUD field office. He had to navigate fallen power posts, downed trees, and debris. Soon, other HUD staff started showing up. Their first steps were to assess the situation of HUD staff, and the families they serve.

Families were displaced, had no food, no water, no phones, no TV, no cable, no internet, no texts, and at night everything was pitch black, so he says there were major safety concerns. In the early days, when the Field Office was administratively closed, staff that came to volunteer with response efforts were encouraged to leave by 2 pm so they could be home before nightfall. An AM radio station was the only source of information.

Running on adrenaline, HUD staff collaborated with FEMA, HHS, Puerto Rico officials, armed forces and many others to direct families to FEMA assistance first, and about 1 million people ultimately registered for FEMA assistance, Córdova said. At one point 12,000 people were in shelters across the island, Córdova said.

“The first thing you’d do when you saw someone was hug, ask how their home was, how their family was, cry if you needed to,” Córdova said. And then they’d get to work.

Most people in public housing sheltered in place, since the buildings are made of concrete, he said. But after the storm staff had to focus on what critical deficiencies public housing complexes faced, such as not having power for patients on dialysis. The crew worked with the Puerto Rico Department of Housing and Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) to assess how many public housing units and Section 8 housing units had been damaged by the storm, and how many were still livable. They then matched those with the families who had been displaced. Staff also quickly worked to assist families leaving the island of Puerto Rico to port their vouchers to cities stateside, currently at nearly 360 families.

Airdrops were used to deliver thousands of meals to families, and millions of gallons of water. Of the roughly 31,000 Section 8 vouchers Córdova’s team manages, at peak numbers about 380 families were displaced. Staff worked with local PHAs to assist in issuing relocation vouchers for families to find new housing. The Puerto Rico Public Housing administration also had approximately 1,000 public housing units available to house displaced families.

By mid-October, HUD sent more staff from headquarters to help manage the recovery. Today, about half of the island is still without power, and that recovery continues.

Córdova and his staff are now focused on the next step. He says some of the worst impacts felt by families came from lack of power, water, and telecommunications. Córdova said this signals it’s time to look at new and different ways of developing housing and leveraging funds to include not only building units, but also utilities infrastructure. Solutions might include Low Income Housing Tax Credits, Rental Assistance Demonstration projects, Choice Neighborhoods, mixed-use developments and Community Development Block Grants – Disaster Recovery funds.

“I always tell people our first name is Housing and our last name is Urban Development.” Córdova said. “How do we approach these two parts of our name on this island – and other jurisdictions – how do we rethink, bring together all those different tools, become resilient for the future.”

As with many New England buildings, Loring House has a fascinating history. Established in the early 1800s on Portland Street by the City of Portland, it began as an Alms House to serve the needs of the city’s poor, elderly, and mentally disabled. Later in 1870, it was converted into a hospital known as the “Greely Hospital” for the city’s low-income population.

Between 1902 and 1904, Greely Hospital moved from its original location on Portland Street and into the new, industrial building that is Loring House today. In the early 1980’s, the growing hospital moved again into a new facility, and Loring House eventually evolved into a housing community for people living with disabilities and 62+ years of age. Today, it has finally received the renovation deserved by tenants through a RAD conversion project.

The “City of Brotherly Love” is welcoming hundreds of Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Island residents displaced by Hurricane Maria. HUD staff are working shoulder-to-shoulder with Philadelphia’s Office of Emergency Management at its Disaster Assistance Services Center where more than 1,000 evacuees have visited since its opening in mid-October.

“It all came together rather quickly after touring the center and seeing the need,” said Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Joe DeFelice. “While my office is providing on-site support, program directors are meeting with me weekly to brainstorm ways to assist the city.”

The center is a multi-agency effort, staffed with personnel from a variety of state and local agencies. One of the primary goals is to register those who were not able to apply for FEMA’s disaster assistance programs before arriving in Philly.

“I volunteered to represent HUD at the center,” said Elvis Solivan, DeFelice’s senior advisor. “I’m making a difference by being in the right place at the right time to fulfill the critical need for subject matter experts fluent in Spanish.”

Nika Edwards is a Public Affairs Officer in HUD’s Philadelphia Regional Office.

Welcome to another edition of our series, A Day in the Life, which will introduce you to HUD employees and highlight the important work they do.

Today we meet Ruth Trembley, a Management Analyst in the Atlanta Regional office.

What is the overarching task of your position?

In my position, I perform quality control reviews of our nonprofit programs and education and outreach funds. I’m responsible for processing the requests for use of education and outreach funds.

What is your typical day like?

I’m not sure I ever have a typical day. Depending on what’s the current need from our Directors, it may be to check on the status of a property or special request from headquarters. Now, I spend a great deal of my time training and mentoring our Program Support staff. I was given the privilege of participating in the Phased Retirement program. We have a small staff and the work I complete is different from anyone else in the division. This allows me time to share my knowledge of Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and all my different work assignments.

How long have you been in your current role?

My career started at HUD in October 1986 as an Endorsement Clerk. In my current role, I have weathered all the changes from 1998 when the Atlanta Homeownership Center was first created. My position titles have changed and sometimes work processes but I embrace the challenges and the changes.

Most exciting part of your job?

I really enjoy speaking at training events for industry professionals and the public about FHA. Currently, I’m part of the Employee Engagement Committee and enjoy sharing and commenting on ideas for employee engagement.

Most challenging part of your job?

It’s researching of nonprofits who may be using FHA improperly and keeping up with the various changes here in Program Support.

Where did you work prior to your position at HUD?

I worked at the Safety Office in Fort Bragg, NC processing Occupational Safety and Health Administration violations and providing daily reports on the heat stress index for soldiers completing physical training.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check back next month for a new edition of A Day in the Life!

Joe Phillips is a Public Affairs Officer in HUD’s Atlanta Regional office.

HUD recently sent a letter to more than 200 public housing agencies (PHAs) in 23 metropolitan areas across the country informing them that HUD is delaying the mandatory implementation of Small Area Fair Market Rents by 2 years.

As the original deadline approached, it became clear to us that PHAs needed more time to integrate this big change into their voucher programs. We contemplated this possibility during the rulemaking process, and the final rule allows the Secretary to give local agencies additional time if it was determined that they needed it —and they needed it.

This decision was informed by research. As many readers of this column know, a handful of PHAs are currently operating a Small Area FMR Demonstration. We now have some preliminary results from a just-published interim evaluation that provides information on administrative processes and costs as well as some initial estimates of program impacts such as changes to the availability of affordable units, average Housing Assistant Payments, and tenant rent burden. We are looking forward to a final report on this demonstration next summer that will have an additional year of data as well as the results from tenant and landlord interviews.

As we allow PHAs more time to meet their new requirements, we want to make sure their programs are informed by the lessons learned by these early adopters so they can implement their own programs in a manner that will have maximum benefit for those families participating in the voucher program.

As PHAs in the 23 areas identified by the Small Area FMR rule work to implement Small Area FMRs by no later than January 1, 2020, they should start planning now. HUD is working on formal guidance and technical assistance, but here is my advice based on the interim evaluation:

1. Read the final rule. There are some important tools in the rule that PHAs could start using now and could improve program operations.

2. Read the interim evaluation report. This rich and accessible research provides a good roadmap for implementation. Among other things, it confirms that Small Area FMRs do open up previously inaccessible neighborhoods for voucher tenants. It also shows that with good planning, it is possible to have a successful program that does not break the bank.

3. Know your market.

Do your own market research. Does this change make more or fewer units available? Will this change cause you to have higher or lower average Housing Assistance Payments (HAP)? PHAs that operate only in high cost areas will experience a significant increase in their average HAP. PHAs that operate mostly in low cost areas may see a decrease in their average HAP, although the Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act of 2016 (HOTMA) allows PHAs to grandfather payment standards for tenants that remain in place. The final rule implemented the HOTMA provision and provides additional flexibilities for PHAs in setting payment standards for families currently receiving assistance in areas where the FMR decreases.

Do the leg work to determine how you would set payment standards around the Small Area FMR before you have to do it. This is a major work item.

Think about recruiting new landlords.

Ideally you are ready to implement Small Area FMRs when market conditions are favorable. A soft rental market is your friend

4. Get the back office ready.

This does increase your administrative costs — both one-time costs for information technology (IT) changes and the development of new procedures as well as ongoing operations costs. Start planning your administrative budget.

Upgrade your IT now.

Be prepared for a spike in moves among existing tenants. You may need to temporarily increase your capacity to conduct inspections.

Talk to your front-line staff about implementation before and during the process. Be quick to address misunderstandings and retrain as needed.

It is unusual to have a research study available at the moment you need to make a policy decision. In this rare case, when the timing was right, we were able to make an informed decision. I strongly encourage all interested parties to carefully read the interim evaluation and help our PHAs move toward successful implementation.

]]>https://blog.hud.gov/index.php/2017/08/25/giving-public-housing-agencies-time-succeed/feed/0When Disaster Strikes, a Hero Answers the Callhttps://blog.hud.gov/index.php/2017/07/28/when-disaster-strikes-a-hero-answers-the-call/
https://blog.hud.gov/index.php/2017/07/28/when-disaster-strikes-a-hero-answers-the-call/#respondFri, 28 Jul 2017 14:50:07 +0000http://blog.hud.gov/?p=9092When floods, tornadoes, or other natural disasters force Americans to flee their home, HUD’s dedicated employees are among the first to the scene to help affected families find shelter.

Tony Landecker, a Portfolio Manager in HUD’s Minneapolis-St. Paul field office, is responsible for assisting with the management of the local housing stock. Last year, however, Tony’s focus turned to Baton Rouge when the area experienced historic flooding. Tony left his city and family to spend months helping those who had been forced from their home.

In Baton Rouge, Tony was assigned to the Celtic Shelter, where he led a team tasked with finding permanent housing for 130 families that were placed in a temporary shelter – which was scheduled to close in one week. This didn’t deter Tony and his team. Together with Red Cross volunteers, FEMA volunteers, other HUD employees, members of the Louisiana Housing Corporation, and Catholic Charities, Tony and his team identified vacant housing units by calling hundreds of apartment complexes, property management companies and individual landlords. Once they found the units, the team made rental assistance available, expedited the housing inspection process, and even helped the families move. As a group, before the temporary shelter closed, they found permanent housing solutions for every family.

“My experience working in disaster recovery has affected me in profound ways,” Tony said. “The opportunity to help is incredibly gratifying. I will always remember the survivors we were able to assist, and the hope and promise our HUD team was able to provide.”

For going above and beyond the call of duty in a difficult situation, Tony was named the Minnesota Civil Servant of the Year by the Federal Executive Board.

In honor of “American Heroes Week,” HUD recognizes Tony for being a real-life hero and for helping others find the comfort of a home in the aftermath of a disaster.

It is hard to believe housing discrimination still exists in America nearly 50 years after the Fair Housing Act was signed into law. But the battle against unfair housing practices in neighborhoods across this country continues, even in our own nation’s capital.

Susie McClannahan is a fair housing hero who is on the frontlines of fighting housing discrimination. As a Fair Housing Intake and Grant Coordinator with the Equal Rights Center in Washington, DC, Susie answered her phone a few months ago knowing it could be one of the many clients she helps every day. On the other end of the line was an older, disabled woman who needed help. For months, she had been asking her landlord to fix a broken accessible door opener to her apartment building. The issue had made it difficult for her to leave her apartment to run errands, and forced her to wait outside during extreme weather. To go about her daily life, she had to rely on others to open the door for her.

Acting on the woman’s behalf, Susie sent a request for reasonable accommodation to the landlord, which resulted in the quick repair of the automated door opener. The resident was absolutely elated to be able to enter and exit her own building without the help of others. Another small victory for fairness.

“Many people who experience housing discrimination aren’t aware of their rights. I frequently answer calls from individuals that know an experience they had was unethical, but they aren’t sure whether or not it was illegal,” Susie said. “By informing people about their rights under the federal Fair Housing Act and local laws, they can take action to address the harm they’ve experienced and ensure it doesn’t happen to anyone else.”

The Equal Rights Center is a HUD fair housing partner. The group recently launched a new advice column where Susie and her colleagues respond to concerns expressed by the public. For helping others every day, and for representing the highest ideals of fairness in housing, Susie is a hero. But she sees it differently.

“The real heroes are the people I serve every day,” she said. “These heroes courageously report housing discrimination; they fight to be treated with respect and dignity and ensure others don’t have to experience the trauma that they went through. I am so grateful to our Greater Washington community of superheroes that stand on the frontlines to build a more equitable region, free of housing discrimination.”

When a family is looking to purchase their first home, or a homeowner is faced with foreclosure, they often turn to a HUD-approved housing counselor for help. Housing counselors are on the front lines of helping people find and keep what is for many their greatest financial investment – their home. Lauren McLaughlin is one of those heroes.

Lauren works for Hudson River Housing Inc., a non-profit housing counseling center in Poughkeepsie, NY, that helps families find affordable rental housing or buy their first home. Lauren and her colleagues promote homeownership by creating educated and confident homebuyers and then helping them preserve their investment. In 2011, she became a housing counselor with a focus on foreclosure prevention. Within two years, she was overseeing all of the center’s programs.

“Anyone who wants to be a homeowner can be a homeowner one day,” McLaughlin said. “It starts with the kind of education you don’t get in school.”

As a housing counselor, Lauren walks potential homebuyers through a basic financial assessment and identifies what obstacles may prevent families from securing a sustainable mortgage and, more importantly, how to overcome them. It’s not uncommon for folks to tell her, “I wish I knew you earlier!”

One of Lauren’s fondest memories is of a retired couple in their late sixties who were missionary workers that helped countless communities and villages all across the world. They had been renters their entire lives and all they wanted was to be homeowners. Lauren and the couple came up with a plan. For months, they saved and paid down debts and eventually bought the home of their dreams.

“They were so appreciative and thankful for our services and all that we offer,” McLaughlin said. “The day before closing, the couple was sitting in my office crying and saying, ‘We never thought this day would come.’ I was so grateful to help them fulfill their dreams, a couple that has helped so many other people. It really made me feel like I was part of something bigger, a worldwide community.”

This is just one of many examples of how Lauren and housing counselors like her are working as everyday heroes. To date, Lauren and Hudson River Housing has helped more than 30,000 homebuyers find and keep their homes. In honor of “American Heroes Week,” HUD recognizes Lauren and all housing counselors for helping more Americans achieve the dream of homeownership.

Staff fondly call it “Boston’s best kept secret” in affordable housing. But now the national spotlight has found Jewish Community Housing for the Elderly (JCHE), which this spring became the nation’s first multifamily affordable housing provider to achieve the Better Buildings Challenge (BBC) goal, achieving an impressive 24 percent energy savings in just six years.

JCHE, a HUD-assisted senior living organization, made a public pledge through the BBC in 2013 to improve the energy efficiency of its building portfolio by 20 percent over the course of 10 years. Since then JCHE has achieved its goal four years ahead of schedule. The organization reached 24 percent energy savings across its portfolio of eight buildings, representing cost savings of $288,000, most notably at its campuses in Brighton and Newton, Massachusetts, totaling 926,000-square-feet.

JCHE joins 13 other 2017 BBC goal achievers in other sectors, including big names like General Motors, Staples, and Macy’s. These organizations are putting themselves to the energy savings test, while showcasing and sharing the solutions they implement to spur billions in new investment and accelerate energy savings in commercial buildings, multifamily housing and industrial plants.

JCHE leads the way with several projects, including its addition of solar electric and geo-thermal heating and cooling at Shillman House, a new, high-performance building of 151,020 square-feet that uses just half the energy of a typical similar building. The project used eight sources of financing, including funds from the Green Affordable Housing Program administered by the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency for and on behalf of the Massachusetts Clean Energy Technology Center.

Ulin House is a 141,000-square-foot building that includes 239 studios and one-bedroom units. Using a $42.4 million HUD 221 (d)(4) loan as part of HUD’s “Markup-to-Market” program, JCHE retrofitted Ulin House with LED lighting and Energy Star appliance upgrades, additional insulation, water-efficient toilets and faucets, new windows, state-of-the-art air conditioners, a combined heat and power cogeneration system and an energy management system.

Most recently, in early 2017, JCHE began an energy- and water-efficient retrofit of Golda Meir House, a 170,000-square-foot property of 199 apartments. The project will improve indoor air quality and increase natural daylight for all residents, and is being financed with 4 percent Tax Exempt Bonds and 4 percent Low-income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC).

Although there were obstacles to implementing building improvements, JCHE was able to find the right resources to fund them. With support from HUD and DOE, JCHE’s investments are paying off through significant energy savings, freeing up funds to reinvest in the organization’s mission to provide superior housing and supportive services that allow its residents to thrive as they age in community.